


Three Little Words

by AdelenMontgomery



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad Puns, Declarations Of Love, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Happy Ending, Love Confessions, M/M, Romantic Fluff, a tiny bit of - Freeform, okay just one but it's there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 15:16:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8994763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdelenMontgomery/pseuds/AdelenMontgomery
Summary: It didn’t bother Steve that Bucky hadn’t said “I love you” in this century. It didn’t. It really, really didn’t!Or the Brooklyn boys learn there's more than one way to say those three little words.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Premise taken from this [prompt](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/394979829803940641/)

It didn’t bother Steve that Bucky hadn’t said “I love you” in this century. It didn’t. It really, really didn’t! ‘Cause Bucky had been through a lot. And their lives were a lot more complicated. Steve was grateful that Bucky had remembered that they were together  _ at all _ . So it didn’t bother Steve that Bucky hadn’t said “I love you” in this century. He knew Bucky did, and that was enough. He could be content with that.

Oh who was he kidding?

It bothered him. It bothered him a lot. Bothered him more than when Bucky gave him permission to woo Peggy ‘cause “we’ll have to settle down with dames someday, punk.” (Which bothered him  _ less _ after Peggy vaguely hinted that she like both of them, but that’s besides the point.) It bothered him because he kept saying it because he  _ could  _ and he  _ meant it _ .

He knew Bucky loved him back, he did, he really did. It’s just it was beginning to drive him up a wall that he wasn’t  _ saying _ it. Not directly, anyway. He’d  said other things that were hidden “I love you”s, like “Buckle up” and “Eat something” and “Put on a damn coat, Rogers.” But Steve needed to hear those three little words  _ so badly _ .

He had to talk to Bucky about it. Let him know that Steve still loves him, and he’s not pressuring him or anything, but a healthy relationship needs communication. So Steve needed to say something before it became anymore of a problem.

He’d say something as soon as Bucky got out of the shower, he told himself. So of course he started to doze off.

*****

Bucky had noticed that Steve had been acting odd in the last couple of days. He figured it was just residual energy from the last mission or maybe it had something to do with the coming holiday season. Who knew? Not Bucky, that’s for sure.

He was gonna ask him about it after he showered, because it was starting to get a little ridiculous. And healthy relationships require communication. (Bucky was pretty sure Sam and Nat had plotted together to drill that into their heads, but hey, it’s not like they’re  _ wrong _ .)

“Punk,” Bucky muttered affectionately, pausing in the doorway between the bedroom and attached bathroom and watching the steady rise and fall of Steve’s back. The big lug had fallen asleep already.

Bucky padded around the bed and climbed in his side, lying on his side and scooting closer to Steve. He didn’t even budge. Man, he  _ really _ fell asleep then, didn’t he? Bucky smiled, his eyes roaming over Steve’s sleep face. The pillow was smooshing his face a bit strangely, but it was adorable. Intimate, even, because who else got to see Captain America with his face smooshed in his pillow?

He absently started to trace a pattern on Steve’s back, the same one he always did when Steve fell asleep first. If he couldn’t say it out loud, he was at least gonna spell it out.

Bucky really wanted to say “I love you” aloud, but every time he tried, the words got stuck in his throat. He couldn’t figure out  _ why _ he couldn’t say it to Steve though. He’d practised in the mirror for goodness’ sakes! But when it came to saying it to Steve he just  _ couldn’t _ .

But he could still spell it out, so he wrote it into Steve’s skin whenever he could, over and over and over again. He hoped that the message steeped into Steve’s skin, winding its way through Steve’s body so that Steve would know. Because Steve deserved to know that he was loved, that Bucky loved him, even if he couldn’t  _ say the fucking words aloud _ .

Bucky froze in the middle of tracing another “y” on Steve’s back when he took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

“Hey sleepyhead,” Bucky teased, hoping he wasn’t blushing or something else that would give him away.

Bucky wasn’t quite sure why he felt like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, but he did. Maybe it was because he always had felt like being with Steve was getting away with something he didn’t quite deserve. In the 40s, a lot of that had to do with relationships like theirs being illegal and all, but part of it was Bucky wondering how he’d won Steve’s heart of gold. Now, he was amazed he still had it, after everything.

He may have stopped breathing, waiting to see what Steve was gonna do.

“I love you, too, Buck,” Steve murmured, pulling him in close to his side and kissing his forehead before snuggling into his chest. Bucky felt numb for a moment before his senses kicked in and he started breathing again. He pressed a kiss to the top of Steve’s head as he wrapped his arms around him.

*****

In the morning, they talked about it. Steve told Bucky why he’d been acting weird, but that he could take his time and say it whenever he was ready. Bucky told him that he was trying, the words just wouldn’t come out. So they opted for spelling it out, and, with a little guidance from Clint, they used sign language sometimes instead. It worked out okay.

It wasn’t quite what either of them wanted because even though every form of saying “I love you” is valid and has the same meaning and one way over the other wasn’t anything special, ‘cause at the end of the day “I love you” was “I love you,” they wanted the verbal proof, so to speak.

And one day it just sorta… happened.

They weren’t doing anything special. They weren’t out on a fancy date. They weren’t even cuddling and watching a movie or something for a stay-at-home date. They were just making lunch and joking around.

“It’s cold in here,” Bucky whined.

“Then I guess you’re like this pepper, Buck —”

“No, don’t you —”

“— a little chili,” Steve finished, barely holding back his laughter.

“God, you are so lucky I love you,” Bucky said, wrapping his arms around Steve’s waist and kissing his cheek. Then they both froze and stared at each other for a moment.

“Buck, you just said—”

“That I love you. Out loud. Holy shit.” Steve put down the knife and pepper as Bucky grabbed his face looked him dead in the eye. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Buck,” Steve said, his eyes crinkling as he smiled. A few happy tears escaped and rolled down his cheeks.

“Ya hear that world? I love Steve Rogers!” Bucky shouted at the kitchen ceiling.

“You’re obnoxious,” Steve laughed.

“At least I’m not a punk.”

“Jerk.” They smiled again, and Bucky pulled him in for a real kiss. Lunch could wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Don't be afraid to say hi!
> 
> You can follow me on [Tumblr](http://captainsleepingbeauty.tumblr.com/) if you want.


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